The paradox of the serrated sickle erythrocyte: The importance of the red blood cell membrane topography

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Ballas, Samir K.^{a; *} | Connes, Philippe^b

Affiliations: [a] Cardeza Foundation for hematologic Research, Department of Medicine, Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA | [b] Laboratory CRIS-EA 647 –Section “Vascular Biology and Red Blood Cell”, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Samir K. Ballas, MD, FACP, Cardeza Foundation, 1020 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. Tel.: +1 856 745 6380; Fax: +1 856 795 0809; E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract: Red blood cell rheology and adhesiveness play a key role in the occurrence of vaso-occlusive like events in sickle cell anemia. The present paper reviews counter-intuitive findings supporting that rigid and serrated sickle red blood cells do not initiate vaso-occlusion. Instead, the less rigid red blood cells could initiate vaso-occlusion because of their increased adhesiveness to the vascular wall. We suspect that stiffness of sickle erythrocytes and the topography of RBC membrane are factors affecting adhesion to the endothelium.

Keywords: Sickle, topography, serrated sickle

DOI: 10.3233/CH-152014

Journal: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 149-152, 2016